"...but the idea of removing guns from the country...."
"Control" is not removing all guns from the country. Keep in mind your talking to someone who once was an NRA member when their focus was on gun safety; Somewhere along the way their focus became gun "rights". While I do not hunt anymore I still own a 12 gauge, 16 gauge, 20 gauge, 4-10, shotguns and a Savage 300 deer rifle. I come from a gun family. My mother was a skeet shooting champion in the 30s and 40s.
My idea is relatively simple. People should be allowed to keep sporting guns such as the ones I have. No registration. No nothing. Assault rifles do not need to be banned. But access to them is through licensed dispensaries similar to what is found in the US Navy where, if you want to "check out" an AK, for target practice, or whatever safe activity you want, you can do so with the proper identification, including a background check done online. etc. You return the gun at a designated date and time. In this way the guns designed and manufactured for killing a human being are controlled to the extent of who owns it and what nefarious background they may or may not have. Of course it will not solve the crazy person who checks out a gun , who has no criminal background, to kill someone but it does make it much harder for people to have access to assault rifles than today. Much harder. Unfortunately the reason this would likely never pass is that the assault guns are what make the most $$$$ for the manufacturers and retailers.
As far as gun control doesn't work all one needs to do is compare California with Texas. I'm not sure but I believe California may have the toughest gun control in the country. After they were enacted the gun related fatalities dropped significantly according to police records throughout the state. In Texas after they eliminated most all legislation aimed at gun control, their gun related fatalities sky rocketed.
As I've said there can be no panacea here but controls-even such as the magazine restriction you suggested-can go a long way in saving lives. IMO if just one child's life could be saved that's enough for me. But this nonsense about someone knocking on my door to collect all of my shotguns is just that-nonsense.
